So we actually met the devil himself this week.  Absolutely terrified me. Even after we left him, both of us had a dark, terribly dark feeling we couldn't shake. It stayed with us until we could get home to the safety of the spirit in our home.  We have been assigned by our mission president, our stake president and our branch president to put together a community food drive in Hope to fill the food bank. It's a huge undertaking for us because we've never done anything like it before. We are in charge of contacting 7,000 homes. So we made a big list. I totally love lists. Stan tolerates them.  We decided to visit every church in the town. There are 13  different denominations counting us. So we called all twelve to make appointments. We got none. We drove by several but because it wasn't Sunday, no one was there. However we knocked on the door of a huge Victorian style house church. There we found the devil. The sign outside said :  "Abundant Life  Fellowship."As we knocked on the door , a surly fifty-ish man with penetrating eyes, pulled open the door.  "We are Elder & Sister Fisher from-  looking at our badges, he snarled " false false " . I tired to explain we were helping with the community food drive. He wouldn't listen. He screamed with his face all contorted, "you are a cult ! " and slammed the door in our faces. The wicked, evil, ugly feeling penetrated through the door. It followed us to the car and stayed with us. "Let's go home," I said. In the safety of our humble missionary apartment we prayed for relief. And to think I was afraid of the witch in town.

    This week was a busy one. Stan did a lot of service jobs which is part of our calling. As his companion, I watch him fix things. He  put a cute wicker basket on a members bike, mowed the next non member Italians lawn, fixed a non - members flat tire, looked at a broken dishwasher for another non member. We also took some members of our branch to the temple on Friday night. We were stopped on the freeway for an hour and half and so missed the only session they have on Friday nights. We were able to do sealngs so it all worked out. The craziest thing about Canada, well one crazy thing, when there is an accident on the freeway they don't move the wreck to the side. They just stop the freeway traffic until the police and everything is done.  We have been there for three crashes. All were about an hour and a half to just sit in your car. Even if it's a fender bender. There are so many accidents here, so many.

     Marlene 's little dog is really hurt. We spent a wee bit of time trying to give her some comfort. She has no-one. She made us a really pretty pillow for the couch and gave me some fabric to make her an apron so I did. She goes to the Lutheran church every other week and ours on the opposite weeks.

       We have a less active sister in our branch. She is a mother of four and her husband works out of town. When we visited her she said she wish she knew how to can. We fount a nice cold pack canner at Value Village and took it to her. She was so excited. I guess I will still be canning even here.

   Our calling here is to help this little branch. It's getting littler ( is that a word ?) smaller. Several families are moving. Sometimes we have thirty-five to church and sometimes ten. Last Sunday we didn't even have a primary. Not one child came.  I taught Relief Society and Stan taught the priesthood. We heard a talk by a Stake authority last Sunday who said : " the Lord loves his little branches, they are a treasure to him ".  We understand who we are working for and whose they are. We are supposed to have a summer branch picnic. It was scheduled for June, then July. Possibly we will have it in August if it stops raining. As we are surrounded by tall mountains, it is hard for me to remember we are only 134 feet above sea level. Between being so close to the ocean and being in a rain forest , it's not a surprise that it always rains.

     We meet new people this week. Wally is eighty-five and his wife is fifty. Marnia says she can do anything a man can do. She sailed from Vancouver to New Zealand and all the beautiful islands in between. She has the most unique shells I have ever seen. I will take pictures. There is only one thing she doesn't know how to do. So Stan will teach her how to weld. Ha !  His multi talents come in handy here.

    We love being missionaries so much !  We are so happy we came, so blessed to be on the Lord's errand. Senior couples have different responsibilities and assignments. The rules are relaxed for us but the blessings are not. We don't have a TV which is a great blessing as well. We're out meeting people and getting the name of the church out where most people have never heard of us. The food drive is a huge tool, our leaders tell us, to put the church out where it can be seen. We are to be examples of Jesus Christ. So we are doing the best we can in our little vineyard of Hope. We love the gospel, we love our Savior Jesus Christ. The church is true and we are blessed every day.

     We love you all, Elder & Sister Fisher